Beaches that glow in the night light

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While I was watching the movie “The Beach” I came across this mesmerizing scene of the night ocean where the waves glimmer in neon blue that made me wonder whether it is a special effect or a reality. It is as if this scene was shot in the Avatar movie where everything glows in neon colors.  It took me a while to find out that this is a natural phenomenon which again proves the wonders of our Mother Nature.

When the night returns to certain beaches around the world, the waves that wash the shore start to light up in neon blue which is quite a strange color in the natural world. This is known to be caused by a special kind of plankton (microscopic organisms that float in the upper part of the ocean) belonging to the phylum “Dinoflagellata” due to their “Bioluminescence”.  Because of this reason they are also known as Pyrrhophyta, meaning “fire plants”.

Dinoflagellates are single celled free living organisms ranging from 30μm to 1mm.They have two flagella that are ribbon-like in appearance which are different from one another in their motility that helps them in their unique whirling movements. These organisms are surrounded by a complex outer covering known as “amphiesma”.They have the most striking molecular characteristic for a group of an eukaryotic origin and that is the permanently condensed chromosomes that are not associated with histone proteins. Photosynthetic Dinoflagellates have “eyespots” (photosensitive lipid droplets located within their membrane layers) which assist them in finding a light source for photosynthesis. However, non-photosynthetic Dinoflagellates feed on other plankton like diatoms or display parasitic mode of life by showing associations with higher organisms.

“Bioluminescence” is the process of production and emission of light by a living organism. Only a fraction of Dinoflagellates show “Bioluminescence”. Both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic dinoflagellates are capable of displaying this unusual characteristic. The light production happens in a special kind of organelle in these organisms called “scintillon”. Scintillons are dense vesicles that contain the chemical “Luciferin” and the enzyme “Luciferase”, and they are abundant in the periphery of the cells. Light is produced as a result of mechanical stimulation in the form of a physical disturbance that happens in the external environment. Thus the light appears only when the waves crash onto the shore or when they are disturbed by any other physical means. With this stimulation, the interior of scintillons become acidic and luciferin gets oxidized in the presence of luciferase enzyme.

The above reaction releases energy in the form of light that gives a neon blue color in the darkness. This Glowing is a protective mechanism of Dinoflagellates to escape from their potential predators. The strength of the glow can vary depending on the weather conditions. And this phenomenon is most frequently sighted in Maldives, Puerto Rico and San Diego.

 

References :http://: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/protista/dinoflagmm.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5029497/

Image courtesy : https://www.google.lk/search?q=glowing+phytoplankton+on+a+beach+in+maldives+hd+images

https://www.google.lk/search?q=luciferin+luciferase+reaction+in+dinoflagellates

 

 
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